Merry Christmas!

see you in 2011!

christmas tea.

my friend alison hosted a fun womens' tea get together on Sunday. She is a great cook, sweet lady and all around awesome person.

the amazing spread. She made about 90% of this awesome this. I contributed...nada.

the ladies {taken by me}

a close up of the goodies. :)

all the ladies {taken by alison's husband :) }

Fun, snowy, afternoon with some wonderful women. Thanks Alison!

2. {two}

oh Liamster. You are two?!


{2 days old.}
What a joy you have been from the day you were born.

{8 months}
You are so sweet, so independent, and yet you love people...you warm up to people so quickly.

{1st Birthday!}
My little L-man has grown into quite the toddler! You are one tough cookie. People always comment when they see you take a spill on a sidewalk or a crash into something. You never cry unless you were really hurt. o

{26 months}
You are simply adorable. You have a smile that KILLS.

{33 months }
You crack us up with your silly ways, pretending your a cat, doing a crazy laugh.











Being pregnant with your little brother {or} sister, I have been not feeling well and been so tired during this first trimester. After we take Max to school, you, Evan, and I snuggle on the coach together and watch a litte morning cartoons. You guys watch...I cat nap. It is a wonderful time though. The three of us huddled together under a blanket. A sweet memory, that is for sure.

I could not imagine life without you, our third sweet, happy baby boy. You have brought such joy to our family and we are so excited to see you grow.

Happy 2nd Birthday sweet boy!
xoxo
love,
Your Mama.

turkey bowl 2010

the first annual turkey bowl was held this year. In Libertyville, Illinois.
here are some highlights from the game.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Maxwell's turkey cookie

We are heading for Wisconsin/Illinois this weekend to be with our families this afternoon, but I thought I'd share this fun questionnaire my cousin Nicole sent me... here are Max and Evan's "recipes" :

Evan's 'recipe'

1.How do you cook a Turkey? Put eggs and sauce on it.
2.What do you have to do to the turkey first? clean it... get the poop out.
3.then what? look at it.
4.stuff it with what? eggs and milk
5.What degrees do you cook it at? 4 degrees
6.how long do you cook it for? 10 minutes
7.what do you season with? pepper
8.what do you serve on the side? broccoli, eggs, pasta, chili, pizza, and waffles

Max's 'recipe'

1. How do you cook a turkey? you put it in the oven and make sure its not cold.
2. What do you do with the turkey first? Cut it
3. Then what? you take the bones out.
4. what do you stuff it with? Oranges, grapes, tomato.
5. What degrees do you cook it at? 19 degrees
6. How long do you cook it for? 10 minutes.
7. What do you season it with? Fruits and stuff.
8. What do you serve on the side? Grapes, bread, oranges, brownies.

10 things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving. {in no specific order}

1. this life growing inside of me.

2. my husband who is such an encouragement to me, is so patient with me. Thankful to have him as my partner in life.

3. my firstborn, Maxwell {maxo} who has the sweetest heart.

4. my middle child Evan {Ev} who makes us laugh and loves to cuddle,

5.my baby [for a few more months anyway} Liam {the L-man} who is always bringing some sort of entertainment and smiles to our faces.

6. my immediate and extended family. Truly blessed to have 2 wonderful families.

7. Our church body. I am SO thankful for such a great group of people who genuinely love and care for one another.

8. friends near and far. Thankful for all the different friends in my life who have impacted me, encouraged me, and have been there for me.

9. a merciful, just Savior. Thankful to know him, and I pray I can stop and give thanks for him each day, no matter what is going on in my life.
"The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever." - Psalm 138:8

10. a roof over our heads, a husband with a good job, and food on the table.

Praying you all have a fun Thanksgiving weekend giving thanks to Chirst and rejoicing in his truths.

the boys {some recent pics}

my big boy, Maxo. {6}


my Ev.{4}


my baby.the L man. {2 in 2 weeks}

the 2nd trimester is so close I can smell it.

{ 7:50 this morning...taken with cell...does NOT do the beautiful morning fog justice.}

SO... this pregnancy has brought about some interesting changes.

1. The thought of drinking up a cup of coffee makes me ill. I NEVER in a million years would think that would happen. Can't do it though...

2. Can't have chocolate either. GROSS.

3. Can't cook meat. ICK...it makes me feel so ill...we've been having a lot of vegetarian dishes lately.

4. I've been craving dried apricots. I also want a MARGARITA like an alcoholic.

5. I have never been so exhausted or felt so l-a-z-y in all of my life. I slept 11 hours straight recently. Felt SO good.

How normal people drink wine.

thank you Abraham Piper {via You would Not Believe}

I realize anew that, just as we must learn to obey God one choice at a time, we must also learn to trust God one circumstance at a time. Trusting God is not a matter of my feelings but of my will. I never feel like trusting God when adversity strikes, but I can choose to do so even when I don't feel like it. That act of the will, though, must be based on belief, and belief must be based on truth.

{Trusting God, by Jerry Bridges}

trick-or-treat 2010.

We had lots of pumpkins from a trip to the pumpkin patch with the Youngs. Max wanted to carve one SO badly so one afternoon we did, and the photo op. afterward went anything but well. It was fun anyway. :)

We get SO many kids at our house on Halloween. It's crazy, but the boys love it. Max was sick on the 31st {AGAIN} so he missed out on the candy collecting, but the shark and puppy got loot for their sickly {pirate} brother. our shark.

our puppy.

4 {four}

so.

It took 3 {three} days of putting this shirt on Liam...

...with me on the third day laughing , telling Justin to go outside and READ Liam's shirt.

Not so observant that one.

So there you have it.

Number 4 {four} will make an appearance sometime around June 11, 2011

{toms}

Today a package came, inside was this box:

I was excited. My first pair of toms.

Here is the thing about toms...you buy a pair, and A child in need gets a pair. Rocks.

And with the purchase of this particular pair, toms teamed up with another charity I love to build clean water wells in Africa. Rocks again.

{love}

Get yourself some toms today! {did I mention they are amazingly comfy?!}